THE Hunter’s hot dry summer is taking its toll on the region’s water supplies.
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Hunter Water has provided figures which show the region’s four main water catchments – Chichester, Grahamstown, Tomago and Anna Bay – are sitting at 79 per cent capacity, a drop of 20 per cent on figures for the same time last year.
That 20 per cent fall is equal to 53 billion litres of water, said Hunter Water spokesperson Nick Kaiser.
“That’s enough to fill 23,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” he said.
“This January, we’ve had just 55 millimetres of rain, while last year January was one of the wettest on record.”
Chichester Dam – the Hunter’s oldest catchment – has lost more than 36 per cent of its catchment since January last year and now sits at its lowest January storage level in a decade.
Grahamstown has also fallen since last year, dropping 16 per cent in one year, from capacity to 84 per cent.
“Grahamstown Dam, the Hunter’s largest water storage, is quite shallow at about 9 metres deep at best. That means on hot, dry days, we can lose as much out of the dam in evaporation as we do in water usage,” Mr Kaiser said.
He said the drop in water levels were attributable “to below average rainfall and hot weather” throughout December and January.
“The fluctuations in our dam levels serve as a reminder for residents to be conscious of their water usage all year round,” he said.
“Hunter Water will be working together with our community, businesses and stakeholders to find ways we can reduce water usage and secure our water supply into the future.”
Bureau of Meteorology NSW Climatologist Agasta Imielska said the hot weather over January was because of a low-pressure trough.
“On Friday [January 13] we had some warm conditions, but particularly the warm night on Friday was associated with a cold front and low-pressure trough,” she said.
On January 14, Williamtown recorded a minimum temperature of 26.1 degrees Celsius, which was the highest overnight low in 67 years.
The dry start to the year is in stark contrast to last year, which had a record 200.6 millimetres falling in Newcastle on January 6 alone and 404 millimetres over the month.
The storm isolated some Hunter towns and forced Raymond Terrace residents out of their homes.